Coastal Carolina University
IN-16: Green Athletics

ZERO WASTE AND/OR CARBON NEUTRAL ATHLETIC EVENTS

In Fall 2019, Coastal Carolina University (CCU) transformed every Chanticleer home football game into a Zero Waste initiative. Made possible through CCU's TD Campus and Community Sustainability Initiative (Sustain Coastal), and partnerships with Chanticleer Athletics and Aramark Dining Services, this initiative provides fans with the opportunity to recycle and compost their waste on game days. The success of zero waste football at CCU is made possible by collaborative partnerships; infrastructure investment; and the behind-the-scenes work completed by CCU staff and student volunteers.

The 2021 season has seen meaningful changes to zero waste operations at each home football game. In just the Fall 2021 season alone, CCU has been able to divert at least 70 percent of the waste generated at Brooks Stadium during 5 out of the 7 home games. The success of zero waste football at CCU is largely to do with the collaborative partnerships and behind-the-scenes work done by CCU’s TD Campus and Community Sustainability Initiative (Sustain Coastal) staff and student volunteers.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcjA9gsUdYg
URL: https://www.coastal.edu/sustain/campussustainabilityinitiatives/zerowastefootball/

As part of Earth Month each year CCU holds at least one Zero Waste Baseball event at Spring Brooks Stadium. Here is a post about the event from Spring 2021: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNqJAbsr_qO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Green Power: CCU regularly partners with Santee Cooper, its utility provider, to host Green Power athletic events. For example, on Oct. 2, 2021 the CCU home football game against ULM was powered by 100% Green Power. Below links provide examples of the long-standing partnership between Santee Cooper and CCU Athletics.
https://www.coastal.edu/ccustories/news/news-article/index.php?id=4728
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUiSZ7yLOmX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

STADIUM OR ARENA CERTIFIED UNDER A GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEM
CCU has a number of stadiums and arenas certified under a green building rating system. They are CCU Brooks Stadium Renovation/Norman Field House (CCU Football); Student Recreation & Convocation Center HTC Center (CCU Basketball Stadium); CCU Softball/Baseball Complex Improvements (CCU Softball/Baseball). https://www.coastal.edu/facilities/designandengineering/sustainability/leediinvolvement/

SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND BEVERAGE PURCHASING PROGRAM
As our zero-waste football program expanded, so did collaboration with Aramark Dining Services, and alternatives to single-use items have started to offered at concessions. Concessions has made noticeable strides in terms of changing over to compostable paper-based packaging for the most popular items (food wrappers, popcorn boxes, nacho trays), and eliminating single use condiment packaging. Plastic souvenir cups have also been replaced with aluminum cups. Not only has this prevented thousands of non-recyclable cups from going to the landfill, our community members are being offered an alternative that is not only highly recoverable, it is also wildly popular. These changes to concession offerings, such as the aluminum cups, are being replicated in other CCU athletic sporting events.

TURF

https://www.coastal.edu/app/newsletter/archived_newsletter/67/1971

PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT MORE SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS FOR ATHLETIC EVENTS
Each football game offers shuttle rides for attendees to get to and from the parking lots located on the perimeter of CCU’s campus. During home football games, only CCU shuttles and essential vehicles are allowed to drive on the main campus, making the entire campus safer and friendlier for pedestrians.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS, E.G. TO EDUCATE STUDENTS AND FANS/SUPPORTERS ABOUT THE INSTITUTION’S SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES
At every home football game, Sustain Coastal students and staff hand out recycling bags to tailgaters at each of the tailgate parking lots. These bags are collected when the game begins. As part of this process, we educate football goers about the sustainability efforts at the institution and provide a service to the greater community.

Additionally during each game, students and staff collect recyclables and compostables within the stadium from each of the thirty-two (32) zero waste stations. The remaining waste left behind in the stands is collected after each game, and hand-sorted the next day by student workers and volunteers. In addition to the waste diverted from the landfill, each game also provides experiential learning opportunities for classes and individual student volunteers. Students gain insight about the scale of waste generated on campus and help to raise awareness within the larger CCU community about sustainability.